Monster Jam is back in the Capital area! We go to check out the Saturday afternoon show, and it did not disappoint. We’ve been doing Monster Jam since 2011, and they keep bringing new surprises. This year we welcomed Grave Digger, Blue Thunder, Megaladon, Wonder Woman, Monster Mutt Rottweiler, El Toro Loco, Max-D, and Zombie. Click for more sweet pics!

One of the new additions this year was Two-Wheel Skill competition. We’ve had Wheelie competitions in the past, but this was new, and it kept things interesting. Before I get into that, I do want to say I prefer the Head-to-Head racing, but maybe with the size of the stunt track, they stuck to the timed racing (single truck running the track) this year. So, with the Two-Wheel Skill, Donut, and Freestyle competition, there was a new element. You are the judge. I thought it was weird when we got there, and I couldn’t spot the judges table. There wasn’t one. The audience was encouraged to visit a mobile-friendly website (no app download required) and rank each run. We had a lot of fun quickly debating our score before locking it in, and then cheering or booing with the crowd that either agreed with us or didn’t. I actually really enjoyed this new aspect of the show.

They had the drivers compete in several races, with both ATVs and these Speedsters. We liked the head-to-head action and it was really cool when they caught some air. They weren’t gentle either, they were hitting the jumps and burning the curves and we saw several crashes. Everyone in our group was thinking we needed to find a way to get our own Speedsters to drive.

My son and I counted and between this and local demonstrations, we’ve seen monster trucks in some form, around 17 times. Each time is an absolute blast and all we can think about is the next time we can go. There are some things we miss… Monster Jam used to have a lot more cars to crush, and they’d do a real big
show at intermission. I miss watching the local RC car club coming out and jumping their model trucks over the actual course before the show started. But they’ve also added a lot new elements added. Though we miss the crash cars, the stunt track (mound of dirt) does give more impressive trick capabilities. And we absolutely loved the new voting process.

We absolutely recommend hitting the Pit Party ahead of time if you can. We got to walk around and meet some of the drivers. Blue Thunder’s Matt Cody even signed my son’s earphones. Check out our interview with Matt. We always have a great time when Monster Jam comes to town, and I hope my son and I get to enjoy it at least 17 more times.